Primitive Survival Skills | Blog

Last month we talked about the best spindles for friction fire. This month is the fire board. There are a couple basic rules that always apply. First, it must be dry. Second, the wood must be soft enough to abrade. The best way to tell if the wood is soft enough is the thumbnail test. If you can dig your thumbnail into the wood and make an indentation then the wood will work. Try this with oak or hickory and you will not even be able to scratch it, much less make an indentation. The thickness of the fire board should be between 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick - Too thin and you will burn through before getting a coal, too thick and the dust will cool off before accumulating in the notch.

I have found 14 native species of trees ( so far, for sure there are more ) in Virginia that will work for fire making. The first 5 mentioned are my favorites; the rest will work but are not nearly as good as the first. Keep in mind that this is my opinion based on my experience and practice; everyone has their favorites. The first 5 in order of preference are: Basswood, Bald Cyprus, Cottonwood, Paw Paw and White Cedar. The rest are in no order: Tulip Poplar, Sycamore, Red Cedar ( white sap part ), Spice Bush, Hemlock, River Birch, Box Elder, Black Willow and Sassafras.

The fun in all this is trying different materials and seeing if they work. If anyone knows of other native Va. trees that work please let me know of them.